Human Resources 101

(Ottawa — July 31, 2008) The HR Council for the Voluntary & Non-profit Sector (HR Council) is currently conducting a comprehensive Labour Force Study that will shape strategies to attract, develop and retain appropriately qualified people to work in the voluntary and non-profit sector. Today the HR Council released the Study’s second report, presenting findings from its recent Canada-wide surveys of non-profit employers and employees.

Conducted on behalf of the HR Council by Ipsos Reid, the parallel surveys provide an overall national picture of paid employment in the sector. The Survey of Employers provides empirical evidence about the characteristics of organizations, their recruitment and retention practices and challenges, as well as their skills needs. The Survey of Employees provides new statistical information about the demographic characteristics of the people who work in the sector, what they find satisfying and dissatisfying about their jobs, and their plans and expectations for the future.

“With the results of these national surveys, we are building tangible evidence of the realities of paid employment in our sector,” says HR Council Executive Director Lynne Toupin. “The data collected in these national surveys will help lay the foundation for the development of strategies and plans to respond to those realities.”

The surveys are an integral part of the HR Council’s Labour Force Study, a comprehensive look at paid employment in the sector leading to a first-ever labour force strategy for the sector.

The Study’s third and final report, featuring recommendations shaped by the survey results and strengthened by input from sector stakeholders, will be published in March 2009.

The first two published reports from the Labour Force Study are available online on the HR Council’s website at the following URL: http://www.hrcouncil.ca/projects/council-projects-sector.cfm